The plaudits have been continuous for the Arizona Cardinals since the conclusion of the 2024 NFL draft more than a week ago. Of course, the reality is that should be the case for any team that had two first-round picks with one that was fourth overall, seven of the first 90 players and selected a total of 12 on the three days of the draft.
The real breaking news would have been if the draft had been universally panned despite that many additions to the roster.
Having said that, it was intriguing to hear from people associated with teams about the Cardinals’ draft and not from a long list of media members.
Mike Sando of The Athletic reached out to his contacts, and one of them noted wisely how much of what the Cardinals accomplished was linked to the original 2023 draft-day trade with the Houston Texans.
That deal, which led to some subsequent trades, yielded these selections for the Cardinals:
- Tackle Paris Johnson Jr. (first round 2023)
- Edge rusher BJ Ojulari (second round 2023)
- Cornerback Garrett Williams (third round 2023)
- Defensive lineman Darius Robinson (first round 2024)
- Guard Isaiah Adams (third round 2024)
- Cornerback Elijah Jones (third round 2024)
While some naysayers have said the Cardinals should have stuck and stayed last year and selected the eventual NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year, defensive end Will Anderson Jr., one league executive told Sando, “I’d rather have Will Anderson, but you have to know your team, too. They might have wasted four years of Will Anderson while constructing their roster.”
Noting that the Cardinals were the first team since the 1991 Dallas Cowboys to have seven of the first 90 choices, another league executive said, “That is well-played because they need as many NFL-quality players as they can get.”
Finally, one more executive addressed the decision the Cardinals made not to trade the fourth overall choice for more selections and settling for a receiver different than Marvin Harrison Jr.
Saying that would have been risky, he told Sando, “If (Harrison) turns out to be less than what you hoped, no one is going to say you tried to outsmart yourself. If you bust going away from the consensus best player at a position, people will say, ‘You (expletive), everyone knew Marvin Harrison was going to be great.’”
Needless to say, all of us can see that the Cardinals personnel staff, led by general manager Monti Ossenfort, aren’t that!
Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.
